Orders for apparel products from Japan are increasing, possibly due to certain Japanese buyers shying themselves from China, with several Vietnamese textile and garment firms having won export contracts sufficient for their production in many months to come.
Orders for apparel products from Japan are increasing, possibly due to certain Japanese buyers shying themselves from China, with several Vietnamese textile and garment firms having won export contracts sufficient for their production in many months to come.
Vu Dinh Hai, deputy general director of Dongnai Garment Corp. (Donagamex), said his firm now has obtained orders from Japan for production from now until the end of September 2013.
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Many Japanese customers have even asked Donagamex to increase the volume of orders as they are shifting to Vietnamese products from Chinese items. This is a positive sign that the exports of the nation’s apparel products to Japan will post strong growth in 2013.
Donagamex had shipped labor protection uniforms and sports clothing to Japan valued up to US$30 million in January-October. At the moment, 60-70% of the company’s output is bound for the Japanese market while the remainder is exported to South Korea, Europe, the United States and others.
Donagamex already built a new factory in Binh Phuoc Province and another plant in Xuan Loc District, Dong Nai Province. The Xuan Loc plant has recruited workers since March while the factory in Binh Phuoc is nearing completion and expects to recruit laborers next month. Both plants are expected to need a combined 5,000 workers by 2015.
Huynh Van Nghi, general director of Phan Thiet Garment Export Joint-stock Company, said his company had signed contracts to export products to Japan from now till March next year. The enterprise, which mainly trades with Japan, exported US$20 million worth of goods to Japan in the first nine months of the year.
Japanese customers told Phan Thiet Garment about the ability of placing more orders from April and they proposed that the company scale up its production as well.
Phan Thiet Garment has since last year worked with Japanese clients and has revised up its output volumes by constructing an additional factory that will be operational in April.
According to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), Japan’s import of apparel items of Japan picked up 2.4% in value and 4% in volume in this year’s January-July, at up to 190.2 million products.
Vietnam’s apparel exports to Japan reached over US$1 billion in the first seven months, a year-on-year surge of 22%. Meanwhile, Japan saw its imports of Chinese products shrink by 0.6% to US$16.1 billion, but China still remains the biggest garment supplier of Japan.
(Source:VNNet)
